How to Find Your WEP Key

By James Wright

With Internet connections becoming faster, more wide-spread and easily accessible, wireless connections are becoming more popular in work, public and home areas. Wireless networks allow the use of the Internet from a variety of locations and devices and are popular as mobile technology continues to grow. Many are open and free to use, but others are locked and require the use of a password to access. Most wireless modems and routers come with a basic password already active, which is easy to find in multiple locations.

Step 1

Look for a sticker or label of some kind on the modem or router unit itself. There are usually labels with multiple sets of letters and numbers. One of these is the designated wireless password that you can use to access the network. Most of the time, the necessary key is labeled separate from the others.

Step 2

Call your ISP if your wireless gateway was given to you as part of your connection plan. If the wireless key is not on the unit, it may have a basic default password, such as "admin" or "password." Your ISP will be able to tell you what the password is or where to locate it.

Step 3

Check the manual for the device. The manual will have information about the modem itself, how to operate it and how to access the Internet with it. If the manual does not list the password, it will tell you where and how you can locate it.

Tips & Warnings

When you gain access to your modem, it is very important that you create a custom password for your network. Change this in the modem settings, which your manual will tell you how to do. A custom password prevents people from guessing the default password and prevents them from accessing your network.